Fresno badly needs cleaner air, but Proposition 30 is not the best way to achieve it

Few in California understand the need to clean up our air better than those of us living here in the Central Valley. There is no question that wildfire smoke and car exhaust pipes are taking a toll on our lungs and our health.

While Proposition 30 may promise a silver bullet to achieving clean air in Fresno, don’t be fooled. Proposition 30 is bankrolled by a single company, Lyft, to convince California taxpayers to foot the bill for the corporation’s transition to electric vehicles.

Not only is Proposition 30’s massive tax increase unnecessary, but its passage could also put our state’s overall budget in jeopardy, unnecessarily strain our already fragile electric grid, and might not even help working people afford an electric vehicle of their own.

Proposition 30 is a statewide measure on the Nov. 8 ballot that would impose a new state income tax of 1.75% on incomes over $2 million. Proponents say that the money is for electric vehicle subsidies, charging infrastructure, and wildfire prevention. But the reality is that a single company, Lyft, is funding Proposition 30 to funnel state income tax toward their corporate needs.

In 2021, the California Air Resources Board ruled that because ride-share companies create substantially more emissions than regular commuters, due to longer drive times and idling vehicles, those businesses must switch to all-electric fleets by 2030. In the last six months alone, Lyft has spent over $50 million drafting Proposition 30 and selling Californians on electric vehicle subsidies that will substantially benefit itself as it complies with CARB’s new regulations.

In addition to being a taxpayer bailout, Proposition 30 completely ignores costs associated with a massive and sudden influx of electric vehicles on our already fragile electric grid. If Proposition 30 passes, California will need to increase the grid’s capacity to accommodate up to 3 million new zero-emission vehicles added to the state’s roads over the next decade. And how much does Proposition 30 allocate to these grid upgrades? Zero. Any increased cost in grid upgrades will be covered by all ratepayers, causing bills to skyrocket and hitting low-income families the hardest.

While many Californians are struggling to pay rent and put food on the table amid historic inflation, Proposition 30 does nothing to guarantee low-income individuals will actually be able to afford electric vehicles. Even with Proposition 30’s subsidies, which heavily favor upper-income households, the cost and maintenance of electric vehicles often puts them out of reach for most low- and middle-income Californians. Proposition 30 could send electric vehicle prices even higher, with some economists warning that the additional vehicle incentive money could end up in the pockets of sellers and manufacturers in the form of higher sticker prices.

Living in Fresno, it is impossible not to feel the impact of climate change on an everyday basis. No area of California is more negatively impacted by dirty air and vehicle emissions than the Central Valley. We must respond to this existential crisis with urgency and smart policies that balance the state’s competing priorities and ensures all Californians will benefit.

Just this year, Gov. Newsom and the state Legislature invested over $50 billion to fight the climate crisis, with $10 billion to help all Californians transition to electric vehicles and programs dedicated to ensuring low-income Californians can actually afford electric cars.

Fresno and Central Valley voters should not be fooled by Proposition 30’s flashy advertising campaign, and instead should vote no on this Trojan horse measure. We should tell billion-dollar corporations to pay their own freight.